The Ties of Shadow and Light
by Blue Element
Summary: Who would every think that the emotionless monster of Suna could love the bubble fox demon? Well, you'd be surprised, since the demon was kicked out of Konoha and lives in Suna now. What will happen to these friends? ON HOLD! SORRY!
1. Chapter 1 Blinding Moment

**The Ties of Shadow and Light**

**Summary: Who would every think that the emotionless monster of Suna could love the bubble fox demon? Well, you'd be surprised, since the demon was kicked out of Konoha and lives in Suna now. What will happen to these friends? Fallow the story from the day of their meeting to whatever is going to happen. (Naruto is a girl)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did I wouldn't be writing this wasting my time! **

'Talking'

"Thought"

'**Demon talking' **

"**Demon thought" **

_§ Time skip § _

**Chapter 1 **

A six-year-old Naru ran down the street. A man with a large knife was chasing her. He owned a cake shop and had found Naru gazing at the cakes through the window. He had grabbed a knife and started chasing her. Naru had no clue what she had done wrong, but she did know that if she didn't hide soon she would be in a lot of pain. She skidded to a halt and turned right into a back ally. There was a small gap that was just big enough for her to fit through. She hurried to find it only to see that the hole had been boarded up.

'Ha, you have no were to run now demon!' The man looked down at Naru in a cold evil way. 'I'll just take care of you now, the whole village will honor me for killing you.' he advanced on Naru she was quivering in a corner, tears spilling out of her eyes. The man grabbed her neck and held her on the ground. With his free hand he held up the knife, ready to cut her neck. He swung at her neck but at the same time a different blade hit his arm. This caused him to loose his am, unluckily for Naru, his blade cut across her eyes.

A ninja tackled the man who dropped his bloody blade. Naru clutched her face. She heard more feet rushing into the ally. 'Naru, are you okay? Let me see your face.' The sound of the Hokage's worried voice reached her ears. He pulled her hands from her face and gasped. There was a large gash from one of her ears to the other. 'Someone take Naru to the hospital, I need to take care of this man.' His voice got cold. Naru felt someone pick her up and start running. Naru could feel warm blood running down her face and soaking her shirt.

'Don't worry kid, I'll go as fast as I can.' Said the person carrying her. It was a girl's voice. 'You're going to be okay.' Naru knew she was trying to assure her. She tried to open her eyes only to find that it caused a burning pain in her eyes. Naru didn't know how bad the cut was, but based on the amount of pain it was extremely bad. 'Almost there Naru. Hang on.'

Warmth engulfed her, they had reached the hospital. Naru was light headed from blood loss. The women didn't have to tell the nurses what had happened before they took her from the ninja and placed her on a bed. There was a prick on her arm and Naru passed out.

_§ A few hours later §_

Naru woke up and tried to open her eyes, only to find that she had a cloth wrapped around her eyes. Naru groaned as she sat up. Her muscles were sore from the beating the man had given her. "What did I do, why do they hate me? Why, why me? I've never stolen anything. And now, just because I was born I've suffered all my life and now I'm probably blind." Tears filled her closed eyes, wetting the cloth on her face.

A voice drifted in from the hall. 'We were able to stop to much damage, but she will be blinded for the rest of her life.' said a nurse's voice.

'Are you sure? Don't you have contact with Tsunada?' It was the women who had carried her here.

'I'm sorry Miss Anko, but even Lady Tsunada could not cure those eyes.'

'Well, then the leaf village really is no longer safe for her.' The newly named Anko said. Footsteps came down the hall and stopped at the door.

'How is she?' The Hokage asked. The nurse explained the same thing to the Hokage as she had explained to Anko. 'Your right Anko, Konoha is no longer safe for Naru. I'll arrange for her to go some place. Maybe the best place is Suna.' The door to her room opened. 'So you're up Naru, and I'm guessing you heard us talking.' Naru nodded. 'And you're sure that you're okay with it?' She nodded again. Tears filled her eyes again. She was glad that she would get to leave the glaring and violence of Konoha. Her only regret would be leaving behind the old man, who was like a grandfather to her. 'Well, as soon as you leave here Anko will take you to Suna.' The Hokage walked out of the room and was fallowed by Anko and the nurse. Naru waited for their footsteps to fade.

'DARN IT!' Naru yelled as she flopped back down onto her bed.

_§ 2 Weeks Later §_

Naru was finally lead out of the hospital. The Hokage had brought the few items she owned over the privies night. The plan was to leave while it was still dark out. Most villagers still didn't know what had happened to Naru, so they hoped that sneaking her out in secret would stop anyone who was determined to kill her, (There were a lot of them) from fallowing them. Anko was behind Naru guiding her through Konoha.

The two traveled for four days before they reached the border of the fire nation. Normally it would only take two or three days to get to Suna, but with a blind person who is only six you tend to travel a lot slower. The trip was going to take another three days.

'Anko-san, were are we?' Naru asked, it sounded weird to her. She was still not accustom to being blind and asking were they were. Normally she would know.

Anko grinned, she had grown closer to Naru in the four days they had been traveling. She hadn't told Naru yet, but the Hokage had told her to stay with Naru until she was old enough to live by herself of found a family that would take her in. 'We've reached the edge of the forest. There are sand dunes at the horizon. Don't worry we'll be in Suna soon enough.' Anko answered. She looked down at the girl. She still had the cloth over her eyes. She would probably leave it on for the rest of her life. Naru hadn't smiled at any time during the trip so far. She looked tired and emotionless. 'Naru, mind if I carry you? We can get there fast. Besides, you look tired.' Naru nodded and put out her hand. (She doesn't know were Anko is so what would you do?) Anko grabbed her hand and pulled the small girl onto her back. They managed to do about two days worth of traveling in one day.

It was late on the 5th day of traveling when Anko spotted the light. 'Naru, we're almost there, I can see the light on the distance. Come on Naru, we can run the last little bit.' Before Naru could answer Anko grabbed her hand and pulled her into a run. As shocked as Naru was, she couldn't help smiling a bit as she was pulled along. After a few minutes Naru could hear people talking and the sounds of people shopping. "Thank you Anko-san, for bringing me here. I can finally live a real life." (AAN: Pretty in-depth thoughts for a six year old, but I can't have a happy ending in the first chapter.)

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Well, this is the new version of the story. I'm still open for new ideas. I hope you like it. Tell me how I can fix it. Ja ne! 


	2. Chapter 2 Suna

**The Ties of Shadow and Light**

'Talking'

"Thought"

'**Demon talking' **

"**Demon thought" **

_§ Time skip § _

AAN means Annoying Authors Note

**Chapter 2**

"Thank you Anko-san, for bringing me here. I can finally live a real life."

Anko took Naru straight to the Kazakage's office. The Hokage had sent him a message that they would be coming, but best go just to make sure that it was okay. 'You wait out here, I need to go talk to the Kazakage.'

'Okay Anko-san. I'm not going to go anywhere.' Naru said smiling then leaned against the building. (AAN: Naru is waiting in the streets.) It had been about five minutes since Anko had left and Naru heard a group of footsteps stop in front of her.

'Hey, you're new here aren't you?' One person said. It was a boys voice; he was probably a little bit older then Naru. She nodded and smiled politely at the boy or where she hoped he was.

'Why do you have that cloth over you face? It looks stupid. Not to mention you can't see with it covering your eyes.' Another boys voice said. This one sounded more … Brat like to put it in a nice way. Some other that were in the group laughed.

'Well…' Naru wasn't to sure how to explain that she couldn't see any ways.

'You idiot! You're always so rude. We should give her a _proper_welcome.' The first boy spoke. The way he had said proper made Naru nervous. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what their proper welcome was.

'Oh, that's okay. You don't need to do that.' Naru gave a nervous laugh as her smile faltered.

'No, we insist. Lets take her to the welcoming area.' It was the first boy again. The group laughed as three of them grabbed Naru's arms and started pushing her forward.

The boys lead Naru into an ally about two minutes from the Kazakage's office. The three that were holding Naru pushed her down into a corner. She had a sinking feeling that they were going to do the same thing the villagers in Konoha did.

Something hard and cold hit her in the side of the head. 'Why are you doing this?' She pleaded.

'Be quiet you stupid demon! We know what you are! My dad is from Konoha. We moved to get away from you, and now you just fallowed us here!' A new voice yelled. The group continued to pelt Naru with stones. Naru was shocked. There was no were she could go to escape the glaring and violence. How was she going to tell Anko, she didn't want to sound like she didn't appreciate what she had done. 'Tell me, who was the one who blinded you teme?'

A red haired boy looked around the corner. He had heard yelling and gone to see who could cause as much commotion as he did. The boy saw a group of boys that usually tried to beat him attacking a small girl, about his age, with cloth raped around her eyes. The sight of them hurting this girl, who he guessed was blind, was starting to get him very mad.

Sand began to encircle the boy. It slowly moved its way towards the boys who were still throwing rocks. The sand grabbed onto one of the boys feet and pulled him back. They all turned around and when they saw the red haired boy they stopped what they were doing and ran as fast as they could out of the alley and down the street.

'Stupid demon, we'll be back!' The first to speak yelled as he ran down the street with tears spilling out of his eyes (anime style). The one that the sand had grabbed managed to escape it and limped down the street after his friends.

Naru looked up. She had done her best to protect her head from the stones. 'Who's there? What's going on? Are they boys gone?' there was a panicked note in her voice. It would of made even the most cold hearted person feel sorry for her.

'They ran away. I didn't hurt them so you don't need to worry. My name is Garra.' He answered. 'Why are you in Suna? I know your not from here, you smell like trees and rain.' Garra asked as he walked over and took Naru's hands. She cringed at first, but the touch was kind and gentle. He pulled Naru to her feet and slowly led her away.

'I'm from Konoha, I'm moving here.' Naru answered as the boy led her down a road. 'Why did you help me?' She asked.

'I helped you because they've tried to do the same thing to me a few times. But my sand protects me.' Garra explained. 'I couldn't stand to watch them beat up someone who couldn't do anything.'

'Thank you, Garra-san. My name is Naru. Could you take me to the Kazakage's office? I was supposed to wait there for someone.'

Garra nodded, realized she couldn't see him and said 'No problem. I'm going there anyways.' The two walked towards the office. Garra holding Naru's hand and leading her down the street. When they got close the two heard more commotion in the streets.

'What's going on?' Naru asked.

'I don't know, some purple haired lady seems to be interrogating everyone on the street.' Garra let go of Naru's hand and moved in front of her. When Anko got closer they could hear her yelling stuff like. 'What did you do with her?' 'Have you seen a small blond girl?' 'Where are you hiding her?' Garra was slowly backing up trying his best to hide Naru behind him.

'Naru there you are!' Anko yelled when she spotted her and Garra. With that she shoved Garra out of the way and pulled Naru into a death hug. 'I'm glad that you're okay.' Then her relief disappeared and changed to anger. 'Why did you leave? I told you to stay here.'

'Anko, I … can't … breath!' Naru stuttered. Anko let go of Naru explained what had happened.

'I see, well its to late to go back now. Thank you Garra for saving Naru.' Anko smiled at Garra. Then turned away for a moment. "Odd, I've heard that Garra hated everyone. Why did he help Naru?" Anko spun around again smiling at Naru and Garra. 'Well, I'll just have to tell your father what you did. In the mean time I have to earn my stay here, so Garra would you mind staying with Naru for now?'

'Sure.' Garra smiled and dragged Naru off. Anko laughed as she watched the happy six-year-old run off with Naru. She turned to go find a job. The Kazakage had said that she would give her a temporary position as a Suna ninja since she was going to be there for a while, but her placement test wasn't going to be until tomorrow, and she needed money for food.

'Come on Naru! I know a place that we can go. It's my secret hiding spot!'

The two soon became good friends. It was an extremely rare sight to see them apart. Garra acted as Naru's eyes and protected her from those who would take advantage of Naru being blind. Naru was the only thing that kept Garra sain and happy. They were soon known as the Demons of the Sand.(AAN: Garra's sand had also taken a liking towards Naru as well, it had started to protect her in the same way it did with Garra.)

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I thought it was really cute what Garra did! And yes, I know that Anko is OC but I planned it like that. Garra is not OC because this starts before his Uncle tries to kill him, so that never happens because Naru is always with him. The Kazakage can't kill her, Anko will kill him! Well, I'll add chapter 3 ASAP. 


	3. Chapter 3 Promises and Realizations

**Chapter 3**

'Talking'

"Thoughts"

'**Demon talking'**

"**Demon thoughts"**

_§…§_Time skip.

They were soon known as the Demons of the Sand.

_§ 6 Years Later §_

Naru had grown into, as Kiba would say, a bombshell. She had long blond hair; she wore black cloth around her eyes, a black tube top, and long black skirt. With of course the standard shinobi sandals. Garra was a typical 12-year-old boy. He had arms and legs that were skinny and seemed to long for his body. His red hair wasn't really long, but looked like it was in need of a cut. He had tan pants and a red t-shirt.

Naru and Garra were about to start their third year at the Academy. Garra's father had made arrangements for Naru and Garra to be in the same classes so she wasn't left to fend for herself, as no one else would help her. Although this was only under the pretense that Anko would beat him half to death if he didn't.

'Come on Naru, we're going to be late!' Garra yelled. He always came to get her in the morning.

'One second Garra-kun. I'm coming.' Naru's voice sounded down the stairs. Garra could hear running footsteps. "Man she is so slow, I should probably tell her today. I've been meaning to for a while now, but…" _CRASH! THUMP! _Garra's thought was cut short by a noise from up stairs.

'Naru are you okay? What happened?' He yelled as he run up the stairs. He reached the top and looked around the corner to see Naru flat on her face. It seemed that Anko had left a stack of towels and forgot to tell Naru were they were. Naru looked up with a sheepish grin on her face.

'I fell.' She said as she rubbed the back of her neck.

'I can see that baka.' Garra glared at Naru. 'Well come one were going to be late for school.' Garra grabbed Naru's hand and dragged her up. 'Where's your bag?' Naru pointed to her room. After retrieving her bag Garra grabbed Naru's hand again and pulled her out the door.

'Ga-garra, you're hurting my arm!' Naru wined.

'Well then hurry up.' With that he stopped and turned to look at Naru. 'Sorry about that.' He looked down at his feet.

'It's okay, lets just get to school.'

_§Five Hours Later (Lunch Break)§_

'Man, I'm hungry.' Naru complained. Garra smiled at her.

'I'm going to go get my lunch. Wait here for me.' Garra said as he stood up.

'Ya, ya. Were I'm I going to go. I'll just run into everyone.' Naru said as she glared at Garra. Naru put her head on her hands. "Man, I hope that no one is in a bad mood today. If they are I'm doomed. Garra's stuff is in the opposite side of the school."

'Hey Naru. Where's your body guard?' A boy named Heen Yomeashda taunted. He was the leader of the boys who had beaten her with rocks when she first came to Suna. He had held a grudge against her for escaping his special welcoming.

'Shut up Yomeashda-teme.' Naru said frowning.

'You Bit-'_Whack!_ Naru had slapped him. It was only out of luck and the fact that he was loud that she was able to hit him. 'You're going to pay for that.' Heen grabbed Naru's wrist and punched her in the face, knocking her off her chair. Naru felt his fist continually hit her face and arms. Suddenly Heen stopped. Naru could feel the eyes of her classmates watching. No one did anything to help her and some were cheering. The door slid open just as she felt Heen's foot hit her in the side of her head knocking Naru unconscious.

'Yomeashda! What do you think you're doing?' the teacher had come back into the room. 'I can't believe this. I leave for two minutes and you knock someone out.' She walked up to Heen, grabbed his ear and led him out of the room.

Naru was amazed. She was seeing a dark sewer in front of her.

'**Silly human. You're not meant to come here for another year. Best leave now.' **A booming voice said. Naru felt something push her. She woke lying on the floor. The cloth was back around her eyes. "What just happened?"

'Naru!' Garra came back in the room. He ran over to Naru dropping his lunch at the door. 'Naru, what happened?' A hand grabbed his shoulder before he reached her.

'Someone is coming to take her to the infirmary. You can go see her after school. Now go sit down.' Garra glared, but listened and sat down. Some of the students were complaining.

'Hey what about our lunch break?' A girl named Ririn Istumo asked.

'I said sit down Istumo. Lunch is over.' Everyone sat down glaring at the teacher.

"Damn, why did Heen do that again? I'm going to kill him." This and many other thoughts were the only things going through his head for the rest of the day.

Naru lay in her bed thinking about the voice she had heard. Who was that voice? Where had she gone? The biggest question though was why had she been able to see. Naru had not seen as much as a shadow for the past 6 years. Naru had spent the majority of the day wondering about this. She had been forced to stay in bed for the rest of the day so there wasn't much she could do. Finally the end of day bell rang. "Finally, now I just need to wait for Garra to come get me. Damn I hate having to be so reliant on him." The curtain that was around her bed opened.

'Naru, are you okay?' It was the panicked voice of Garra. Naru nodded, smiling to reassure him. 'That's good. We better get you home.' Garra grabbed her arm and pulled her outside. They walked for a while. Garra wasn't looking at Naru. Even if she couldn't see him, she knew that he was mad about something.

'Garra, what's wrong? I'm fine now.' Naru pulled free of his grasp. 'What's your problem Garra?' He didn't answer. 'I'll find my own way home tonight thank you. I'll see at school tomorrow.' With that Naru walked past Garra, hoping that she didn't run into anyone. "I need to find a way to see without eyes. I should ask Anko-san." Naru eventually found her way home, but it took her a good half hour. 'I'm home!' she called when she came in the door.

'Hi Naru. Where's Garra?' Anko voice came out of the kitchen. Naru hoped that she wasn't trying to cook again. Last time she had Naru and Garra had gotten food poisoning.

'He wasn't feeling good so he went home right after school.' Naru lied. She headed for her room then remembered she had meant to ask Anko about blind ninjas. She ran back into the kitchen to ask. 'Anko, is there any famous blind ninjas?' Anko seemed shocked for a moment before smiling and looking off through the window.

'Not that I know of, but there was one who would use sound created by chakra to create a 3D layout of the area. He mainly created so he could fight if he was fighting in the dark or bad weather conditions. It was like what bats used in a way.' Anko said. 'But that was years ago, and no one ever managed to find out how he did it. Why do you ask?' She looked back over to Naru.

'No reason. Thank you Anko-san.' With that Naru turned and ran up to her room, careful not to trip over the towels again. "First I'll need to work on my chakra control" Naru thought smiling at her own brilliance, but that soon faded when she realized that there was a missing element to her plan. "How the hell do I do that?"

Garra sat in his room. He felt so useless and stupid. He had let Naru get hurt. How could he of done that? I shouldn't of left her alone! I need to get stronger! Even if it was just Heen and nothing too bad happened, if he couldn't protect her from Heen then if she ever was in real trouble… that would never happen. He would get stronger, so she would never have to go through any pain ever again. "It's decided then. I'll just get stronger." He thought looking down at his clenched fist. The realized a very obvious thing. "Who the hell is going to teach me of all people?"

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I know this chapter is shorter but I'll make the next one longer, I promise! I wont be able to update every day once school starts up again, but I'll do my best. Ja ne! 


	4. Chapter 4 Shocking Note

Chapter 4

'Talking'

"Thoughts"

'**Demon talking'**

"**Demon thoughts"**

_§…§ _Time skip.

Okay, here is the new chapter, sorry for it taking so long and it being so short, the next one will be really long to make up for it, but I needed to get something up didn't I? Didn't I? Well anyways, enjoy!

**Chapter 4**

In the end the two couldn't think of someone who could help them other than each other.

Naru woke up the next morning to the beeping of her alarm clock. She fumbled on the side table for the button. Stretching her arms she rolled onto her back. Her hand moved to her face, feeling the scar that ran across it. A memory of her last night in Konoha flashed through her mind.

'Naru, I know your up! Come down stair already.' Anko's voice came from the kitchen. Naru yawned as she sat up in bed, pulling the blankets off of herself. She moved her feet onto the cold wood floors. "Damn it! Why is that woman so loud in the morning?" she pulled on a pair of jean shorts and a blue tank top. She walked down the stairs as she tied the black bandages onto her face again.

'Good morning Naru, your up late as usual.' Naru was shocked at the voice; she didn't know that anyone was over. As it turned out it was Temari, Gaara's older sister.

'Good morning Temari-chan. Why are you here?'

'Well, Gaara came home early yesterday so I was wondering what had happened.' She asked. 'Oh and Anko didn't want to cook breakfast so she asked me to.' Anko growled at her. Naru took that as her cue to tell her when happened the day before. A plate of eggs and toast was place in front of her as she told Temari about Heen and Gaara being upset about something. Temari thought for a moment. "I think I know why he was so upset now. Naru may not realize it but he really cares about her, he must have been upset about not being able to protect her. She is one of his precious people; it would of hurt him to see her attacked like that.

'Anyways' Naru cut into the girls thoughts, 'I need to get to school, I don't want to be late.'

'But school doesn't start or another hour and a half.' Anko questioned. 'Besides, shouldn't you wait for Gaara? You don't want to run into people on your way there.

'That's why I'm leaving so early, I can't always rely on someone to do everything for me.' With that she left and headed for school. "It shouldn't be too bad, most people are smart enough to avoid running into a girl with bandages over her eyes." She thought.

Gaara left early for school as well that day. He had hoped to see Heen there before anyone else came. He walked down the street the school was one, earning the usual glares from on looking people. He sped up looking straight ahead, making sure not to make any eye contact. To his shock he saw Naru slowly making her way through the crowed, trying to stay close to the side. "You idiot, just talk to her! You can't avoid her forever, you might as well get it over with now." He yelled at himself in his mind. 'Hey Naru, wait up. I need to talk to you.'

'What do you want?' she asked with venom in her voice. He paused for a moment, contemplating if he should talk to her or not after the welcoming he got. 'No, I need to tell her what happened.'

"I'm sorry about yesterday, I didn't mean to let you get hurt." He said, looking down at his feet. There was something in his voice that hit Naru and hard. She just couldn't take hearing him sound so sad, and frankly she had felt miserable with out him as well.

"No, don't say sorry. It's my fault for getting mad at you." So turned to the source of his voice and smiled. "Now, help me get to school before I crash into anymore walls please."

The rest of the day went smoothly, Gaara and Naru were no longer mad and Hein was still in detention. That was until they got back to Naru's house. Anko was sitting in the kitchen looking at a letter.

"Naru, I have something I have to tell you. We have a message from the Hokage. We've been ordered to return to Konoha, immediately." She didn't know what to say, Suna had been her life and now she had to return to the village that tried and darn near succeeded to killer? Naru fell to her knees, still holding Gaara's hand. What was she going to do?

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What did you think? Still any good? Open for other pairings. I only have NaruGaara so far, and Anko need a man. Well, and I was bored, but please don't just put down your votes, write something else as well please. Sorry, I'm tired of all the people just putting their votes down.


	5. Chapter 5 Konoha

Chapter 4

'Talking'

"Thoughts"

'**Demon talking'**

"**Demon thoughts"**

_§…§ _Time skip.

**Chapter 5**

Naru fell to her knees, what was she going to do? 'Why? Does it say why we have to go? Why can't I stay here? That stupid village will jus-' Naruto said in desperation but was interrupted by Anko.

'Quiet Naru, I know this is hard but we don't have a choice. We may live in Suna, but we are still Konoha ninja's. You have been ordered to return so you can be put into one of the groups in Konoha.' Anko explained. Gaara looked at her in disbelief, and then noticed tears in her eyes. "She does know how hard this is for Naru then. But why is she still making her do this?" He thought. There was a chocking noise from Naru before she stood up.

'I'm going to my room.' She stormed out in a random direction ending up in the broom closet. Gaara rushed over to help her. "Okay, not one of my more dramatic exits. You'd thing that after six years in this house I would have figured out that the broom closet is not the back hall."

The two reached her room. She flopped down on her bed sobbing. 'What I'm I going to do Gaara? I don't want to leave my home, and my only friend. And to what, return to the village that tried to kill me?' As she spoke the cloth around her eyes becoming wet with tears. Gaara didn't know what to do. How was he going to tell her that he … that he lo- "No, I can't think like that, I have to help her."

'Okay, I need to figure this out. Gaara, can you help me with this. I can't get the knot undone.' She looked up at him with a sheepish grin on her face. Gaara walked behind her and started to struggle with the knot.

'How did you get this done up so tight?' Gaara asked in frustration.

'Anko did it.' She answered innocently. The two started laughing, forgetting their troubles for the moment. But the reality of the situation would not go away. 'What am I going to do?' She asked again hopelessly. Gaara thought about it for a moment.

'Why don't you ask Anko if the letter said anything else, there might be a good reason why you have to go back. Maybe you miss under stood.' He suggest as he finished undoing the knot and passing Naru a clean clothe.

'It's not that, the reason that she gave was valid, but why now?' It was at this point were Anko chose to walk in.

'Well, I guess you deserve to know.' She didn't look at Naru, but watched her feet. 'Like I said downstairs, we're still Konoha ninja's and the Hokage want you to get to know the other people who could be on you team. I'm sorry Naru, I tried my best to get the old man to let us stay here, but the council wont take no for an answer.' Naru tried her best not to cry.

'It's not your fault Anko. Thanks for trying though.' She smiled sadly, with that Anko left the room. When her footsteps disappeared down stairs Naru spoke again. 'Well there isn't much I can do.' Gaara wasn't sure what to say. 'I have one last favor to ask.'

'What is it?' He asked slightly shocked. Naru wasn't the type to ask for favors.

'I need some way to see by myself since you can't come with us. Can you help me come up with something?' She asked.

'Sure I'll help. After all, your helpless with out me.' That earned him a nice whack on the back of his head. 'Hey, don't hit the person who's helping you!' After that the mood was lightened exponentially.

_§ Three day's later §_

Naru and Anko stood at the gates of Suna. Gaara was the only one there to say goodbye to them. 'I'll miss you Gaara. But I'll write as much as I can. Try and visit me sometimes, okay?' She smiled at Gaara, trying her best to look happy. In truth her heart was breaking to be leaving the place she grew up. Gaara pulled her into a hug.

'I'll miss you too. Don't forget, I'll be there for the Chunnin exams.' He smiled down at her. Anko could hardly stand it anymore. The picture was just so cute! As sad as it was, the two were the perfect couple and were the only two that could understand how the other felt. "Damn Hokage, why did he have to make us come back?" She thought as she watched them. The two friends pulled apart. 'Bye Naru, thanks for being such a good friends.'

'Same to you.' With that they had to leave Suna, not to return for a long time. Gaara watched them fade into the distance. He wasn't too sure what to do with himself anymore. Naru was the only other person he talked to. "I guess I can go train. That wouldn't be too bad."

_§ Four Days Later at the Gates of Konoha §_

Naru reluctantly fallowed Anko back to Konoha. The gates were now in view. She was glad that she would see the old man again, but she wasn't too fond of seeing the rest of the villagers. Sure they had not been all mean. But the ones that weren't were a very small handful.

'Well here we are.' Anko said cheerily. As sad as she was for Naru leaving Suna, she sure was glad to be back in Konoha. Now she could finally get the dango she had been graving for the past six years. (AAN: Ah, there is the Anko we know and love.) 'Okay, first we have to go see the Hokage. Then get you some warmer clothing.' So the two headed off for the Hokage tower. As the walked some of the villagers remembered Naru, and not in a good way. Whispers started to fallow Naru through the streets. They were all wondering why the 'demon' was back. Most people had ether thought she was dead or knew that she had gone to Suna. Naru stiffened, trying her best not to lash out at the people staring at her. "Just ignore them, they don't mean anything. They are insignificant bugs." She thought to herself, smirking at the last part.

After walking around a bit, they finally made it to the Hokage tower. Anko knocked on the office door, Naru standing behind her. She knew were she was and what the hall had looked like when she was little. A voice from the other side of the door beckoned for them to come in.

'What is it? Please make this quick, as you can see I have a lot of paper work.' Said a grumpy voice from behind the files stacked on a desk.

'Well, sorry for disturbing you, but you just made us leave our home and come all the way back to this stupid place. The least you could do is say 'hi' nicely old man.' Naru retorted. The Hokage froze; it had been six years since he had heard that voice.

'Is that you Naru?' He asked looking around the stacks of paper. Naru smiled at him, as grumpy as she had been about coming back, it was nice to see the old man again. 'Sorry for being so grumpy, I didn't think that you would be here so soon.' He said as he walked around the desk. 'How was the trip?'

'Long.' Naru answered bluntly. 'It's nice to talk with you again old man.'

'Naru, could you wait in the hall, I need to talk with the Hokage about some stuff.' Anko asked. She nodded and walked out into the hall. She closed the door behind her. "Now that I've said hello it's time to change out of these clothes. Besides, I'm starting to get cold." With that Naru turned and walked down the hall to the exit.

* * *

'Are you going to explain now why you made us come back so soon! Do you have any idea how hard that was on Naru? How hard it was on me to see her so sad, that I had to make up some stupid lie because you didn't give the god damn reason!' Anko shouted, she was pissed and wanted to take it out on the closest person to her. That just happened to be the Hokage.

'I couldn't tell you in the letter, it was too important to put in writing. And would of caused untold damage if it had fallen into the wrong hands. But you're right I need to tell you. Only, please don't tell Naru any of this. If my information is correct there is group of missing-nin who are after the containers of the tailed beasts. We needed Naru here so we could better protect her.' The Hokage explained as he hid from Anko's rage behind the stack of uncompleted paper work.

'But she was protected in Suna, and if you thought it was so unsafe why didn't you bring Gaara too? He's the same as Naru and just as important!' Anko continued to yell, getting madder and madder by the second.

'The council didn't think it was that important. The King of the tailed beast is more important to protect than the lowest tailed beast.' The Hokage explain watching his feet with an ashamed look on his face.

'Those are not you word Hokage. What happened while we were gone? You would never do that before.' With that she stormed out of the room. Slamming the door behind her.

'That did not go as I had planed.' The Third said shacking his head and sitting back down on in the desk chair.

* * *

Naru walked out of the store in her new clothing. Black cargo pants, and a dark red hooded sweater with a black twisting vine pattern on the body part. Under the sweater she wore a black t-shirt with a flame logo in the center. Her hand had fingerless gloves with metal plates on the back. And on her feet were simple black running shoes. It was a simple outfit, but way better for the colder climate of Konoha and easy to move in.

'Guess I should be head back to the Hokage tower; see when I have to go the academy. Wonder is I have to take a test to get in? That should be no problem.' She muttered to herself. As she walked down the road she felt Anko go by her, but thought it better to not say anything. She felt like she was in the sort of mood that if you talked to her she would rip your head off. When she finally reached the Hokage tower again she knocked on the door.

'Come in.' The Hokage's voice said from the other side of the door. She slowly opened the door and poked her head in. 'Oh, hello again Naru. Can I help you?' He asked looking around the stacks.

'I just wanted to know about when I was going to the academy and if I needed to do anything to get in.' She stated plainly.

'Anko told me what level you are at and you can go into the graduation year. You still will have to complete the final exam. But you have 5 months until then so it should be no problem. You can start this Monday. I'll organize everything for you.' He said searching through his desk for the right papers.

'One more thing, can I have my own apartment? I can do everything for myself now so I can go back to living by myself.' She asked with the most innocent smile she could have on her face.

'Well, I'm not sure. I could find a place, but are you really okay by yourself?' The old man asked with concern.

'I just made it to the shopping district, got new clothes and made in back here by myself. Come on, I know what I'm doing.' She retorted frowning at the Hokage.

'Very well, but you have to tell Anko. She isn't in the best mood, but at least we know exactly were she'll be. I'll give you the keys, address to the building and your school stuff later. Come back here around 5. I can take you to ramen after. Do you still like ramen?' He asked slightly unsure.

'Is the sky blue?' Naru answered as she walked out the door. "Well, now that those things are delta with I can go try to meet some of the other people from the academy. I hope it's not like the Suna Academy." She shuttered at the thought of the students in her old school. Life wasn't going to be so bad here after all. 'I wish Gaara was here.' She said to herself sadly. She started off to explore Konoha. Enjoying the cool breeze and smell of trees and rain.

* * *

Kiba walked down to the park with Akamaru on his head. Hoping to get some training in before school the next day. As he got closer he saw someone had beet him there. He hadn't seen her around before. She had long blond hair and wore mostly black with a red sweater. She was thin and not too tall, but on thing threw him off, she had a black cloth tied around her eyes. 'Hey, you new here?' He asked coming up behind here. To his surprise she didn't jump but turned and smiled at him.

'Nice of you to notice, I just got here today. I'm Naru, what's your name?' She smiled at him.

'I'm Kiba, and this is Akamaru. Were did you come form?' He said pointing at the dog on his head as he said his name.

'Nice to meet you Akamaru.' she said reaching out her hand to let him smell it. 'I'm from Suna, but I lived here six years ago. It's nice to be back here.' She said tilting her head back to the sky. 'Hey, are you in the academy? I'm going starting tomorrow and I'm not to sure were it is.' She asked rubbing the back of her neck sheepishly.

'Ya, I'm in the graduation class. I can show you were it is now if you want.' He offered.

'Really, that would be great. I'm in the graduating class to. I'm glad I met someone from my class, I was kind of worried to tell the truth.' She said as they walked off. The two talked the whole time there. But the cloth around Naru's eyes was really starting to confuse Kiba. "How is it that she seems to be able to navigate the streets just fine without being able to see? I've never heard of someone doing that before. I'll have to ask her sometime." After about 20 minutes of walking they reached the big tree in front of the school.

'Well, this is it. Our room is on the third floor and our teacher is Iruka-sensei. He's really nice but can't take a joke very well. He also hates it if you fall asleep in his class. There is also Mizuki-sensei who helps out sometimes. He is kind of strange, but a good teacher.' He explained looking up at the old building.

'It sound's like you're talking for experience Kiba. Did you try to prank the teacher than fall asleep in his class?' She said jokingly, giving him a playful smirk.

'Well it would of worked, but Shikamaru got bored and fell asleep so he didn't see Iruka-sensei coming back to the class. And I only fell asleep because I was up late training with Akamaru.' He retorted in his defense.

'Hey, no need to get grumpy. I wasn't interrogating you.' Naru spun around to face the street. She had felt someone glaring at her, but they seemed to be gone now. Kiba noticed her looking at the street.

'You okay?' He asked worried that she suddenly seemed tense. Naru, not wanting to worry her new friend quickly smiled at him.

'Sorry, I just thought I heard something. It's okay now.' She quickly answered. 'Oh shoot, what time is it?' She said remembering that she had said she would meet the old man at five.

'Four fifty, why do you ask?' Kiba looked at his watch.

'Damn, do you know a short cut to the Hokage tower?' She asked holding her head in frustration.

'Fallow me.' Kiba grabbed her hand, running down the street. They skidded into an ally way almost running over a cat, but managed to get to their destination in one piece and on time too.

'Thanks Kiba, I promised to meet the Hokage at five. I'll see you tomorrow at school. Bye.' Naru waved running up the stairs. Kiba waved back, Akamaru sitting by his feet. Naru knocked on the door hopping that she wasn't interrupting anything. At first she didn't here an answer so she quietly peeked through the door. The Hokage was there, but he seemed to be asleep. 'Hokage? You awake old man.' She said shacking his shoulder.

'I am now.' He said grumbling as he lifted his head. 'I'm to old for all these late nights.' It was at that moment when he chose to notice that it was Naru standing in front of him. 'Oh sorry, is it that time already?' He asked looking at the old clock on the wall. 'All your school things and the keys for you new home are on the side table over there. I'll take you there before we go for dinner so you know the way.' Pointing to a small bundle of books with a set of keys on top of it. You could almost here his bones creek as he straitened up.

The third lead Naru through the streets to an older part of the village. The building was old and looked like it needed a new coat of paint. Naru's place was on the top floor. It was a small two-room one-bathroom apartment. The kitchen had a stove, oven, fridge and sink with not much counter space. In the bedroom there was a large window on the west wall and a door leading out to a small deck. The bathroom was pretty normal with a shower and bath. The whole place was nice, but it had the strange wet dog smell through out the rooms.

'Well, it's not too bad. I actually quite like it. It has a homey feel to it. Thank you old man. Now lets go get some food, I'm starting to get hungry.' Naru said happily putting her books down on the counter and her back on the floor.

'I'll do my best to get you some furniture, but this is about the best I can do for you at the moment. Now off the get ramen, I'm feeling a bit hungry myself.' The two walked out the door, Naru locking it behind her and putting the keys in her pocket. She had a fun night catching up with the man she considered her grandfather. Even the man and his daughter at the ramen stand remembered Naru from when she was little. The grand total of the bowls of ramen she at turned out to be quite a lot less than when she was six, she only at three bowls that night.

It was dark out by the time Naru got home, the Hokage had walked her to the building so she didn't get lost on her way. Waving good-bye she walked up the stairs to the top floor. Once inside she unrolled her sleeping back. She would have to eat home ramen for breakfast tomorrow, but at least she had somewhere to sleep rather than outside. Her first day at the Konoha Ninja Academy was tomorrow and she was not going to mess up.


	6. Chapter 6 Back to School

Chapter 4

'Talking'

"Thoughts"

'**Demon talking'**

"**Demon thoughts"**

_§…§ _Time skip.

**Chapter 6**

Naru woke up early to make sure she would be ready for school. She felt like it was her first day of school again. She put on a black hooded sweater with flames on the bottom and the sleeves, a red sweater with a black Kenji for fire on the front and black cargo pants. To finish the look she put on a pair of black runners as she went out the door, making sure that she locked in behind her.

'Okay; now lets see. I can't remember how to get to the school. All this and I can't even remember, and Kiba was so nice and showed me the way.' She slumped in the road.

'Lost already Naru? I thought you would at least remember how to find one place.' A familiar voice said behind her.

'I have remembered one place, the Hokage tower. I just can't remember the school. Help me please.' She said turning around to face Kiba. Then something hit her. 'How did you know I was here?' Kiba's face faltered.

'Ah, well you see, the thing is. I thought that you would get lost and I followed you sent.' He answered looking down at his feet and rubbing the back of his head.

'So you're saying, that you had no confidence in the fact that I would remember?' She said with a stern look on her face.

"Man, how can she look so evil? I can't even see her eyes and it still works." Kiba thought. 'Ya, more or less.'

'Well, I shouldn't complain. It's a good thing too, or I would have missed school.' She suddenly smiled and stood straight with her hands behind her back. 'Thanks Kiba.' To say the least he was shocked. "How could a person go from looking mad and evil to happy and innocent, well kind of, in five second flat? It just didn't seam possible." Kiba thought in shock. The two walked to the school with Kiba leading the way.

When they reached the school the classroom ways already half full. The girls all seemed to be congregating in the back of the classroom around a dark haired glum looking boy. He didn't seem at all like he wanted or enjoyed the attention. In fact it seemed more like he despised it all together. He looked over to the door; there standing with the annoying dog breath Kiba was a strange looking girl with a black cloth over her eyes and wearing almost all black. Some of the girls swooning over him noticed him gazing at her. The little green gremlin in all of them started to stir.

'And who are you?' one of the girls said walking over to Naru, who was still standing by the door.

'This is the new student that I told you was coming today. Now if you would all take your seats.' Iruka said walking up behind Naru and Kiba. The class headed towards their seats while Naru was signaled to move to the front. 'This is our new student, Uzumaki Naru. She has come from Suna to join her class. Now, you can sit down in the back row next to Sasuke. He's the one with the spiky black hair.' Naru inwardly grimaced. Why did she have to sit next to the very person who seemed to have the worst feel to them? Heck even the guy sitting in the corner with the bugs felt better. Naru walked up the steps to the back of the class and sat down. Sasuke watched her intently, glaring and trying to fathom how she could find her seat when her eyes were covered. "Maybe she can see through the cloth, but no the other way around." He contemplated, not realizing he had been staring at her.

'Hey buddy, take a picture. It will last longer.' Naru said, getting slightly unnerved from the constant glaring of the boy. It wasn't like she liked him or anything, it was just annoying. Sasuke blushed; no girl had ever really talked to him like that before. All they ever did was swoon and crowed around him. "No girl should treat me like that! I am the great and last Uchiha. But even as I think this I still can't see why I'm so interested." He thought frustrated as he looked back to the front of the room.

Iruka watched the spectacle. Naru's comment had earned a death glare from almost every girl in the class and had in fact made Kiba laugh so hard that he almost fell out of his chair. He had even seen one of his brighter; all be it less emotional students crack a smile. "She definitely is an odd one. The Hokage did warn me that she would be that way; I can't help but wonder how she can see at all. I thought that she was blinded when she was a young child?" He thought. The class watched the dazed look on their teachers face.

'Um, Sensei? Shouldn't we start the class?' Sakura said, she had actually looked away from Sasuke for a few minutes to see the look on Iruka's face.

'Oh, huh. Right, where was I?' he muttered to himself rifling through notes. 'Ah, here we are. Now today we'll start reviewing with what we did yesterday. Now who can tell me what year was Konoha founded?' Naru watched as only one hand went up into the air to answer. 'Anyone other than Sakura?' Still nothing. "This is going to be a looong day." She thought sadly. Who could of thought that class would have been so boring here.

The rest of the morning carried on in this manner. At the lunch bell they were told to meet out at the racetrack and target range for training. The class hurried to get out of the room, not wanted to waste one minute of their break.

'Hey Naru, over here. I want you to meet some of my friends.' Kiba called from the door as Naru waited for the class to empty. She had planned just to stay in the class, but as Kiba and so nicely called across the whole room for her to come with him she thought she should go. She was grumpy to be there, but that didn't mean she was going to make everyone know about that. She followed Kiba out to the wooded area behind the school. There in the small clearing was a group of four people.

'Hey dog-breath, what took you so long. Normally you're the first one here.' A lazy looking boy with pineapple hair asked before he noticed Naru standing behind Kiba.

'I thought that I would bring Naru to meet you guys. I met her yesterday and since she doesn't have any other friends at school yet I thought she could hang with us.' Kiba answered sitting down. 'Anyways, this is Shikamaru, just call him Shika though.' Kiba pointed to the boy who had just spoken. 'This big guy over here is Choji.' He pointed to a larger boy who was munching on chips. Then whispered in Naru's ear. 'Don't say anything about his size, he'll blow up and try to kill us all.' Naru looked shocked but Kiba moved on. 'The guy in the trench coat is Shino; he doesn't talk much so if he doesn't answer you don't take it as being rude. Last but not least, this is Hinata. She's shy but nice when you get to know her.' The shy girl turned red at the last comment. Naru smiled at all of the people in front of her, making a mental note to talk with Shino later. Unfortunately his bugs might know something and she didn't want them to say anything. 'Usually Ino is with us too but lately she's been obsessing with the Uchiha kid.' Kiba finished as he fed Akamaru some treats.

'It's nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me hang out with you.' Naru smiled brightly and they tucked into their lunches. The lunch break went fast without anything strange happening; apart form the gang of fan-girls chasing a scared looking Sasuke around the school yard. Kiba showed Naru where they were told to meet and waited for Iruka to come and get class started.

'Now that we're all here we can begin.' Iruka said clapping his hands together. 'I need you all to line up. We're starting with a surprise test on kunai and shuriken.' The class grumbled as they lined up. Sasuke was called to go first, he got them all in the inner circle save for two that were very close. The rest of the class was average. No one got better than 4 out of 10 that reached the centre. Naru was one of the last to go, Sasuke watched her, once again, intently. He wanted to see how she did with her eyes covered; surly she would only do poorly at best. Iruka handed her 10 kunai and stepped back. Ino stepped in front of her.

'Sorry, but I need to get by you.' Naru said annoyed. Ino glared.

'Who do you think you kidding? Just because Sasuke's been watching you doesn't mean he's remotely interested in you. Don't think of yourself as anything special, because your not, so back off.' She whispered in a harsh tone. Naru grimaced at the words.

'Thank you for the warning, but don't worry Yamanaka, I don't have the slights interest in your "Precious Sasuke-kun."' Naru said bitterly as she pushed past to throwing line. She stood in a loose pose facing to the right of the target. She slowly pulled of a kunai and in a seamless motion imbedded in into the center circle of the target. She smiled to herself and she heard Kiba and Choji cheering for her. To her pure delight she felt a barrage of weak killer intent glares from the fan girls and one shocked Sasuke. She threw the last nine in a similar way, getting all of them almost dead centre.

'Very good Naru, Ino if you could please come up now.' Naru walked back to her spot with Kiba and his friends.

'Nice job, I didn't know you could do that.' Kiba looked bug eyed at her.

'Well, you didn't ask now did you?' Naru asked tauntingly. Choji burst out laughing and Kiba turned bright red. Naru smiled at the reaction. "Well, Konoha isn't that bad a place to live. At least I have some friends."

The light of Konoha seemed to grow by the second, but not far off a dark cloud was forming over Suna.


	7. Chapter 7 Tests and Escapes

'Talking'

"Thoughts"

'**Demon talking'**

"**Demon thoughts"**

_§…§ _Time skip.

_Ninjutsu and hand seals_

**Chapter 7**

The light of Konoha seemed to grow by the second, but not far off a dark cloud was forming over Suna.

_Drip. _The sound penetrated the darkness. _Drip. _It repeated, resonating through the empty space over and over. _Drip. _It seemed like the only thing that existed, the only other thing in the world other than him. But he was not there, missing and far away. _Drip_ 'It's cold. So cold, I can't move. Please help me. Where are you? I need you. I can't live without you.' _Drip. _'Please, help.' _Drip. __**'There is no help for you young one. Now wake up before you're late.' **_A ghostly voice whispered into her ear.

Naru woke up, trying to figure out where she was. She still felt cold. Moving her hands to the wall she found that the window was open, the cool breeze was sweeping over her. _Drip. _The sound made her jump. It seemed to be coming from the kitchen. Rolling over, she placed her feet onto the cold floor. Slowly, she felt her way into the kitchen. The faucet was leaking. A puddle of water had formed in the sink.

Naru sighed. She couldn't remember what had happened in her dream, only that she was cold, and alone. 'Why am I having these dreams again? I haven't had them since I was a kid…' Fumbling on the counter she found her clock. 'Urg, it's so early. But there's no use in going back to bed. I have to wake up in half an hour anyways.' Groggily Naru moved around getting ready for school. She had found some of her old clothes she would have worn in Suna, they still smelt of the sand and the hot sun. It reminded her of her home back in Suna.

Naru shook her head to rid it of depressing thoughts. 'I can't start my life here like that. I have to be positive, I have Kiba as a friend after all. I need to be ready for the test.'

*****

'How lucky was she to wake up just before we attacked, huh Boss?' Two dark figures stood atop the building next to Naru's apartment building. The shortest man was the one that had spoken.

'Don't joke, that was not luck. It could have been. The beast must be protecting her so _it_ stays safe. But we will get it soon enough.' The taller of the two said before jumping away. The shorter man lowered his hood, revealing an orange mask and spiky black hair. He turned to watch the blond get ready for school. They would have to plan better if they were going to capture her.

*****

'Naru! You're here early.' A familiar voice called to Naru. She took her head off of her folded hands as if to look up. There was a strong smell of dog in the air; it was none other that Kiba. He had left Akamaru at home, but only for the exam. His mother had made him promise to take him out as soon as it was over. 'Ready for the test tomorrow?' he asked as he took his seat next to her.

'I'm not too worried; we had lot's of practice exams back in Suna. Though I have a feeling it will be a lot different here…' Naru drifted off into her thoughts, getting a blank look on her face. She remembered practicing with Gaara and his brother Kankuro and Tamari. She was closest to Tamari out of the two, she had been like an older sister to they young blond. Naru had often called her nii-chan.

Kiba waved his hand in front of her face, it took him a while to realize that that would do nothing to help. He then started to poke her in the arm.

'Huh? What?' Naru snapped back into reality. 'Oh, sorry I kinda' zoned out there didn't I?' She asked sheepishly rubbing the back of her head.

'Kinda? More like Choji when he sees an unattended BBQ!' Kiba said a bit too loud. His presence suddenly flew to the side.

'What did you say? I am not fat! I'm just a little chubby!' Choji stood in front of the chair Kiba had just been sitting in holding his fist up as steam came off of it. Kiba was now in a new crater in the wall. Naru couldn't help but laugh. Choji stopped ranting and raving and looked over at Naru surprised. She wasn't capable of stopping the laughter; it just started kept getting worse. Pretty soon she was clutching her sides with her forehead on her desk. Kiba had pulled himself out of the crater with a little help from Shikamaru.

They both looked at each other and started laughing too. It was just so contagious. Pretty soon the three had the whole class laughing. Well, almost the whole class. But Shino, Shikamaru and Sasuke were all smiling. Iruka walked in and looked shocked at the state of his class. For one, almost all of them were in stitched laughing and those that were not laughing were smiling. For another, there was a large crater in the wall at the back if the class. He guessed that it had been Kiba because he had rubble in his hair and he still had drywall dust on his sweater.

'Okay, calm down and take your seats. I don't know why all of you are laughing and I don't think I want to know. The test is will be starting in ten minutes so I suggest doing any last minute studying you neglected to do last night.' He looked at Kiba who was still snickering but quickly stopped after that comment.

*****

Naru found the test quite easy. During the written test she had annoyed Sasuke and all the fan girls of his to no end by needing no assistance and finishing before anyone else. After that it was the taijutsu test, students were sorted into groups of two so the teachers could see their hand-to-hand combat. There were a few simple rules. One, don't kill or mortally wound your opponent. Two, no using jutsus. Three, if you are knocked out of the field you automatically lose.

To Naru's great displeasure she was paired up with the girl who had confronted her yesterday. Her named was of no importance to Naru, as she did not seem like a strong fighter, big words but nothing to back them up. Kiba had been paired with Sasuke, Shikamaru with Choji, Shino with a boy named Yuki, and Hinata with Ino.

Kiba and Sasuke went first. Sasuke quickly overpowered Kiba with fancy taijutsu moves, even though it was obvious that if it had been an extensive fight Kiba would have easily won due to his stamina. Shikamaru and Choji who were fifth to go almost tied until Choji miss calculated a punch and sent himself flying out of the field. Shino didn't even move when his opponent fainted, it was unclear why until they saw little bugs crawling out form his sleeves. Hinata and Ino, who had been good friends before Ino's infatuation with Sasuke also tied in their fight, but they both did very well.

Naru stood across the field from her opponent. She took her first real look at the girl in front of her. Her hair was a light pink colour and she was wearing a darker pink dress with green shorts underneath. At the same time the pink haired girl was sizing up Naru. 'So, are you just going to stand there all day Pinky? Or are you going to fight me?' she taunted, placing her hands on her hips and leaning forward slightly.

'My name is not Pinky! It's Sakura!' She yelled back in an agitated tone. That was just the reaction Naru was looking for, one more taunt should be good enough to get her to attack.

'What ever Hana, just start already. I don't want to be here till all hours of the morning.' She faked a yawn, the colour in Sakura's face brighten. Sakura snapped, she clumsily came charging at Naru head on. 'Well, well. We finally see some action.' Naru still didn't change into a defensive position, but stood casually as if at a bus stop. When Sakura was close enough to make a hit Naru side stepped and hit Sakura on the back of the neck hard. The pink haired girl was send face first into the ground.

'Why you! How can you do that?' She demanded, blood was now dripping out of her nose. "I have to show Sasuke that I can hold my own in a fight!" She thought. There was new determination in her eyes as she charged more carefully at her opponent once again. But her determination was easily dashed as Naru gracefully avoided all of Sakura's attacks. She had so far only made one of her own attacks and had not defended herself once.

'Why wont you attack me? Aren't you supposed to show your taijutsu skills?' Sakura tried her best to taunt back, her speech was separated between her gasps for air.

'Oh, but haven't you notice? I have been showing off my taijutsu skills Hana. Not all styles are offensive. On the contrary, for someone like me a style that is more like dancing works quite well. Now Hana, shall we continue or are you finished?' Naru inwardly laughed at her nickname for the girl. She charged again, and again she missed. "I'd say it should be just about time to finish this." Naru thought as she prepared herself to make a blow.

'Would you stop calling me Hana! My name is Sakura!' She yelled as she charged for her last time. Once again Naru dodged the punch and the kicked Sakura's legs out form under her and punched her hard in the back. Thus, in one swift movenment Naru sent Sakura out of the field.

'Good fight, now would you all stop accusing me of following you "dear Sasuke" because I have zero interest in him.' Naru said as she turned to face the fan-girls that had been watching. Iruka watched the Suna girl as she turned away from the field. "What sort of training regiment do they have in Suna? She is way above genin level, and she's not even looking at anything." Iruka was lost in though and did not notice Naru walk up in front of him. 'Iruka-sensei, are you in there?' She waved a hand in his face to try to wake him up.

Iruka gave a start as he was pulled out of his daze. 'Oh! Yes, that concludes the taijutsu part of the exam. Now, if you could please head back inside we will proceed with the ninjutsu portion of the exam.' He indicated the doors and the genin hopefuls crowded back inside.

'This next part will take place in alphabetical order. You will come into the examination room as you are called. We will started with…' He looked down at a class list on the wall. 'Ayame Amerutsu. Please come through this door.' A short girl walked through the indicated door; Naru had not noticed her before and for good reason. She didn't seem to be emitting any chakra at all. If it had not been for her bumping into Naru she wouldn't have noticed Ayame at all. "This could be a problem, she is showing signs of chakra, but she doesn't have the aura someone who is weak. I'll have to keep an eye one her… If I can ever find her again."

The minutes passed as name after name was called. Some people came out calling happily to their friends holding up their hitai-ite, others came out heads bowed and empty handed. When it was finally Naru's turn she walked casually into the exam room. Kiba yelled a quick good luck to her before the door closed. He had passed earlier but waited for Naru to finish. 'Please stand in front of me Naru. Yes, right there is good. Now, we need you to show us two basic ninjutsu, bunshin no jutsu and henge no jutsu. You may start when you are ready.'

Naru took some deep breaths in and formed the hand signs. _Tora, buta, oushi, inu, bunshin no jutsu._ With a poof of chakra smoke, three clones appeared beside her. Iruka nodded in approval. She smiled and continued with the next one. _Inu, buta, tora, henge no jutsu. _Once again there was the poof of chakra smoke and the four Naru had all turned into four different people. One was the Sandaime Hokage, anotherwas Iruka, the third was a boy with red hair, and the last to Iruka's shock was Anko. 'Very impressive Naru, four different people at once. You may take a hitai-ite from the table. You will report back here tomorrow to find out your team selections.' Naru nodded in response.

*****

Gaara sat on his bed, it had been only one week since Naru had left and already he felt utterly miserable. In that one week there had been nine assassination attempts, all courtesy of his father's orders. Tamari and Kankuro had both been sent on long missions, making Gaara even more alone. He pondered running away to Konoha, he would no doubt not be welcomed there but he would be able to see his friend. As he pondered through those thoughts there was a loud rap on the door. 'Enter.' He said lifelessly. Tamari pocked her head in.

'Hey Gaara. How are you doing?' She said tentatively. The way her brother was acting reminded her of before Naru had come to Suna. She desperately wanted him to not fall back into that, but how was she going to help. She hadn't done a very good job in the past, but she wanted to help now. Gaara showed no signs of answering her question. She sat down at the end of his bed. 'I know you miss her and I miss her too. She was very important to you, but you can't stop just because you can't see her. Naru wouldn't want you to fall into darkness, especially if it was because of her. The chuunin exams are in a few months and I know that she'll be in them. You can make it till then right?' She honestly didn't know if Naru would be in the chuunin exams or not, but she hoped she did. Her father had already told her that Gaara, Kankuro and she would be going to the exams, but there was something wrong with how he said it.

'I'm going out.' Tamari's head shot up. Gaara had stood up and started towards the door. She reached a hand out to stop him but the sand stopped her. It wasn't in a cruel way, almost gentle.

*****

Down at the gates of Suna two guards watched for intruders. It was a hot day with absolutely no clouds, the two chuunin had seen nothing all day and were starting to doze off in the warm sun. With no real reason one of them looked into the village just in time too see a huge cloud of sand heading over that had been swept up in the wind. He quickly warmed his partner to cover their eyes as to avoid damage. Little did they know that the cloud of sand was actually their very own Gaara, making a very stealthy escape from the village. It would not be known until later that he had escaped.

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter. I know it's been a very long time since I updated and I really was trying, but with exams and trying not to fail in classes I was kind of busy. But it's summer vacation now and I'm getting back into writing. I hope you like it and don't forget to read and review. Read and review? Well obviously you've already read it if you're reading this now, so that is a little bit silly to say. Back to the point! I always enjoy reading your comments and I'm glade you enjoy the story! Give me you're input and tell me where mistakes are if you see them!


	8. Chapter 8 Turn for the Worst

I'm so SO sorry for the update taking so long, there were some problems in school, some failing grades (well only one) and a major case of writers block and just being plane lazy. I hope you forgive me and just some forewarning, this chapter is rated T for more than just language. Also it has some very sad parts. It was need for the story plot.

* * *

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'**Demon talking'**

"**Demon thoughts"**

_§…§ _Time skip.

_Ninjutsu and hand seals_

**Chapter 8**

Naru walked away from the academy for the last time. She had her new headband in hand, and her friends at her side. Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, and all her other friends had also past their tests. They all planned on going to their favourite ramen stand to celebrate the success.

Iruka had mad a special speech to congratulate them on achievements. Told us who were top boy and girl as well as the team arrangements. Unfortunately Naru had not been placed on a team with any of her friends. No, she had to be put on a team to 'Mr. Emo' himself, as well as his ever-devoted fan-girl nicknamed 'Hana'. Their sensei was the notoriously late Copy-Cat Ninja Hatake Kakashi. Non-the less, they were going to celebrate, even if 'Mr. Emo' and 'Hana' and reject their invitations to join in.

"Ah! That was so troublesome." Guess who.

"It's finally over! Too bad about the team thing Naru." Kiba said as he turned to Naru. Akamaru whined in agreement, the puppy had grown attached in the short time Naru had been in Konoha.

"No worries Kiba, I'm just glad I'm on a team and hope I can go visit Suna soon!" Naru grinned and place her hands behind her head. She had told them all about her old home and Gaara, along with the other two sand siblings.

"This coming from 'Miss top girl'." Ino glared at the blind blond (wow a lot of 'B's! Oh, and Ino isn't so Sasuke obsessed in the story. She still likes him, just not obsessed.) They finally reached the ramen stand and the owner, knowing the group well, laid out extra chairs for the group.

They all sat around laughing, eating; most of that on Choji's part and just having a good time. Most likely one of their last in a long time, all together that was. Naru hadn't been so happy in a long time. Her mind wondered to Gaara, she had sent at least three or four letters a week, if not more. Oddly enough, she had never received any replies from Gaara, only Temari and Kankuro. Obviously she was worried about him, but there was nothing she could do for him until she could go back to visit. She only hopped that he would see her letters before it was too late.

*****

Gaara reached the gates of Konoha about the time the sun was high in the sky. He examined the gates from a fair distance, keeping his presence hidden; it was a strong talent of his. He couldn't just pull the same trick as he used the escape Suna. He'd need to either attack or sneak. He didn't want to be apprehended before he even had a chance to see Naru. Voting on sneaking through a gap he'd spotted in the guard rotations he quickly snuck in without too much trouble.

Next was finding Naru, that wasn't too hard, Shukaku could smell her a mile away and she gave off a very distinct 'aura' that Gaara could easily find after knowing Naru for so long. He quickly headed in the direction both senses were leading him.

Gaara reached were Naru was but didn't talk to her. He couldn't bring himself to after seeing her like that. She was sitting in a large group laughing happily with a huge smile on her face. He knew he should be happy for her, but he just couldn't. You could say that he had almost hopped that he could come along and cheer up a depressed Naru, but that wasn't to be.

He disappeared back out of Konoha, a dangerous look in his eyes. Betrayal was something he had dealt with in the past and had never wanted to deal with again. Sadly, it was too late for that now; or at least it was in Gaara's mind. He returned back to Suna with a change of heart. Unfortunately it was not a change for the better, but rather a turn for the worse.

*****

Naru turned her head to face behind her. She had suddenly felt like Gaara was near by, but when she extended her senses to find him there was nothing there. For all she knew he still was there, Gaara could hind from even her if he wanted to.

"What's wrong Naru?" Shino asked.

"Oh nothing, sorry for being a bother." She smiled to them all, the group had suddenly silenced when Shino had posed the question. "Hey! Ji-san! More ramen over here please!" She called, doing her best to change the subject.

_§Next Day§_

Kakashi walked slowly to the spot he had told his new genin's-to-be to meet him before poofing away in a swirl of leafs. He looked up to the sky. "Five hours late, that should do it." He turned the corner to see two very pissed of genin and one were he couldn't tell if she was sleeping or just didn't care. "Hey team!"

"Don't 'hey team' us sensei! You told us to be here five hours ago! Where the hell were you?!" Sakura yelled, a vain pulsing on her forehead. Kakashi just laughed and rubbed the back of his head. Well, I guess we should start you test to become genin.

"Idiot sensei, we're already genin." Sasuke retorted, if you can believe it. (Hehe, I said 'believe it'. Well Naru's not going to so it had to be somewhere in the story!)

"That was only to see if you had the ability to go through your Jounin sensei's test. Every prospect genin team is going through the same thing right now."

(And they past their test in a similar manner to the manga save for Naru does not act like an idiot, Kakashi doesn't shove his fingers into her butt (that would just be wrong ;p). The main point is they pass; this doesn't affect the story line in anyway because no one used any over the top amazing skills. Only really using what they used in the exams earlier. Sorry, don't feel like writing it all out.)

Naru walked back to her apartment alone. Kakashi had told them to meet at the gates for the first mission tomorrow at nine a.m. shape, and to not dare be late. 'This better mean that he's going to be on time as well.' She thought. In the back of her mind she was still concerned about Gaara because she couldn't get over the feeling she had felt the other day. Normally she was never wrong about who was around her, but he couldn't have been there. Maybe something had happened and that's why she felt like that, she would ask Temari in her next letter. The letter she was going to write and send as soon as she got home.

Though, she never did end up writing the letter that she had so carefully formulated in her mind while walking because there was something more important waiting for her when she got home. A messenger hawk sat on the railing in front of the door to her home. She quickly grabbed the letter, sending chakra into the paper so she could read it (a technique she had created back in school so she could study without people reading all the material to her).

_Naru, _

_Gaara's gone missing; we think he might have gone to Konoha to see you. If you feel any sign that he is there then send a letter back with this hawk as soon as possible. The council if furious and considering putting him on house arrest for leaving without any notice or permit. _

_Tamari_

Two of Naru's worst fears had just come true. Gaara had gone missing and he was in danger of loosing his freedom. She thought back to when she had gotten the feeling. They were sitting around at the ramen stand laughing… It was like someone had tied her heart to an anchor and thrown in into the deepest part of the ocean. He must have seen that and thought that she had forgotten about him. Gaara was smart and all but his past had caused him to always assume the worst. She quickly scrawled down a note explaining what had happened, after that she could only hope for the best.

Slamming the front door open and proceeding the pace around the apartment in a panicked state, Naru neglected to keep watch on what was going on around her.

"So this is were you live demon brat, though you're not much of a brat anymore are you?" A voice sounded behind her, it was accompanied by the snickers (umm, chocolate. Jk) of other men. Naru spun around to see who it was but before she could really register what was going on something tightened around her waist and she was pulled into the air. 'Damn, if my feet aren't on the ground I can't see.' Even more panic and adrenalin ran through her veins.

"Well boys, why don't we have some fun with her. Come now, she's only a genin fresh out of the academy. She can't even see us, no need to have any fear." Someone was now holding her in the air so she still couldn't see. A hand came up to her face and pulled off the cloth covering her eyes. "What a scar, we'd thank the person who gave you that if we knew." The rope around her waist was pulled around her arms and she was slammed onto the floor. She tried to struggle but there was nothing she could do. Her foot hit the floor but she quickly cut off the chakra flow when she found what they were doing. A few of the men had stripped off their clothes. She knew what they were doing and she didn't want to see it. Biting her lip she waited for the pain.

_§Some time late at night§_

Naru couldn't move, her body hurt too much. The floor was cold against her naked form; the clothes had been ripped off her body and now lay scattered around. Her binds were gone; there was no need for them after a certain point as she had just stopped trying to struggle. She tried not to think of what they had done to her, but she could still feel them as if they were still there. She sobbed for the first time in years. She had cried a little when she had left Suna but not like this.

Not knowing how long it was that she lay on the floor, hugging her legs to her chest to try to stop the pain. She only wished that she could pass out, but the world seemed to be too cruel to grant her that relief. Letting go of her legs she tried to pull herself slowly to her bedroom. It was a slow and arduous process. When she finally reached her bed she pulled the blankets off and over top of herself. Finding the corner, she curled up again and tried to find sleep.

*****

"Those idiots, we said mess her up a little, not rape her." The taller of two cloaked men said. Not that it really mattered to him, it had the same results if not better. The orange masked one stopped covering his face.

"Adultery, adultery" He chanted in a singsong voice.

"Shut up would you. We need to stay hidden until the chuunin exams or master Orochimaru's plans will be ruined."

"Oh we are unhappy. Sad that a fellow blond had to suffer so, are we?" Orange mask said.

"I said shut up Tobi." The now known blond yelled.

"Ah! Deidara is mad at me. But Tobi's a good boy."

*****

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura all were waiting at the gates for the fourth member of team seven to show up.

"Where the hell is she?" Sasuke asked in frustration. It was now almost eleven o'clock and there hadn't been hide nor hair of the blond.

"Well, why don't we go check her apartment." Kakashi suggested.

"You know where we live…" Sakura asked aghast.

"Yes." They waited for more of an answer but when none came and their sensei started the walk away the followed. They found Naru's old apartment in the Northwest part of the village, not too far from the gate. They asked the manager which room was hers. The manager seemed slightly shocked, when asked why he told them how a large group of men had asked the same the night before. This was bad Kakashi thought. He had been given a file on Naru and her 'fuzzy little problem' and knew what this probably meant. I mean, it's not like it's hard to figure out who she is. Who else has whisker marks, blond hair and is blind in the village? No one, that's who!

Kakashi ran up the stairs to find the front door of her apartment still open. In the front area the remains of Naru's clothes were strew across the floor along with some bloody rope. Near the centre of the mess were blood and some other substance that he hoped he was wrong about but knew he wasn't. The door to the bedroom was open; inside he found a mass of blankets in the back corner.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's goin-" Sakura cut her sentence short when she walked through the front door. "What the hell happened in here?" She was shocked; she ran over to where Kakashi was standing. Her eyes widened when she saw the mass of blankets. Sasuke walked silently up behind them. Sakura's womanly instincts kicked in and instantly she knew she had to get the two males out of the room. "You two get out now! It's a bad idea for boys to be in here right now. We have no idea what state Naru is in and I can most likely deal with it much better than you two." She couldn't believe that she had just told her ultimate crush to get out of the room along with her new Sensei, but the situation called for it.

"Hai, hai. Whatever you think is best Sakura. Sasuke and I can take care of some of those missions that need to be done." Kakashi said; he knew better then to argue with her right now. He grabbed Sasuke by the collar of his top and dragging hip backwards out of the room.

"Hey!" Sasuke yelled, but he also knew that it was better that they leave for the moment; he just didn't feel like doing any missions right now. (Hehe, lazy Sasuke)

Sakura closed the door and walked over to the blanket mass. Gently she placed her hand on top of it trying to find where Naru was inside it. Underneath the blankets, Naru shook as Sakura's hand made contact. Finding the edge of the blanket, she carefully lifted it off Naru's shaking frame. Sakura's eyes hardened when she saw the deep purple bruises that covered Naru's neck, back and arms. She was leaning over on her knees her head touching the ground, her arms wrapped around her chest. Though another thing seemed off, looking again she saw that her hair had been cut short, almost to shoulder length. It was a very ruff cut, obviously done to scare her more. 'Those teme's! I hope they get what's coming to them!'

Naru relaxed slightly as Sakura gently rubbed her back. Her body was almost too stiff to move. "It's okay Naru, nothing more is going to happen to you." Sakura's voice was almost a whisper.

"T-they… they di-did h-h-horrible things to-to me." She stuttered out in a shaky voice. "It hurts Sakura. So much." She broke into fresh sobs. Sakura couldn't imagine what it had felt like and she didn't want to.

"Shh, shh. It's okay. Lets get you washed up into some clothes, okay. Can you walk?" Sakura stood up next to her battered teammate. Naru nodded her head slowly. She was carefully lifted up, but her legs didn't seem to want to work right. They felt so weak and it hurt to move them. 'How long did she have to go through such torture for? I hope she's going to be okay.' Sakura thought.

After washing off the blood and grim and cleaning her hair Sakura set Naru down on her bed and looked in her closet for some comfy clothes. There was a simple black dress; it looked like it would easily slip on. "Are you hungry or thirst Naru-chan?" Sakura asked.

"Water, thank you." Naru whispered.

Sakura patted her shoulder and stood up. Then, making sure Naru wasn't going to fall over she walked into the kitchen to find a glass. 'That scar, I didn't realize that was the reason for her being blind. She's had such a painful life. Having to move away from her home only to come to a place where she is hated and beaten or worse.' She found a glass in the first cupboard and filled it with cool water from the kitchen sink.

Back in the bedroom Naru was still leaning against the wall behind her bed. He eyes partially open, the scar running across them like a crack in a piece of clay. Naru tried to hold the glass but her fingers didn't work and she couldn't even lift it from Sakura's hands. Sakura took this as a hint and lifted it to her mouth. As she did she got a look at her half open eyes. It seemed like they had been a bright blue at one point, but they were now dull and faded with no pupil or emotion.

"There, is that better?" Sakura asked out of concern. Naruto nodded once again. "Are you going to be okay, we should really get you to the hospital. The question is how are we going to get you there." Naru leaned forward and placed her feet on the floor.

"I can walk no, but can you stay with me please. I don't think I'm going to be able to find my way right now." Naru asked "Sorry, I have one more request."

"What is it Naru?"

"Can you put my face cloth back on please?"

"Where are they?"

"There are some in the top drawer." Sakura found them easily and wrapped in it back around Naru's scared face. Still leaning heavily on Sakura, Naru stood up and they headed out the door. Sakura did her best to take an alternate path so they did step through the mess on the floor.

*****

It took a while but the two finally reached the hospital. They had a little difficulty finding someone that would help Naru but a kind looking nurse finally helped them buy putting Naru in a wheel chair and taking them up to a room.

"Miss, could I talk to you outside please." The nurse asked Sakura. Naru was now rest peacefully in the bed, the majority of her bruises and such now healed. Sakura followed the woman out the door. "The majority of her injuries were bruises but she seems to have some tearing in her… well you most likely will know where." The nurse didn't really know how to explain it to the young teen standing in front of her. "May I ask what happened, though I think I know."

"To tell you the truth I'm not sure either." Sakura explained. "We found her like that in her apartment thought I think it's safe to assume that she was attacked and ra-… her last word wondered off into silence before she finished it.

"It's okay, you don't need to say anymore. If it's okay with you I'd like her to stay here and rest. You are welcome to stay with here. Is there anyone I should call for? Parent's, friends?"

"Naru, doesn't have any parents. But if you could call Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Sasuke that would be great. They should be around somewhere doing some basic missions." Sakura looked down at her feet with a sad expression.

"All right, and may I say you've done well. You showed wisdom and maturity well beyond your age. Stay with her for now, she'll need it." The nurse smiled before walking down the hall. Sakura turned and walked back into the room. She moved a chair so she could sit next to Naru. Her face was much more peaceful now, the nurse had given her a drug so she would have a dreamless sleep.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that Naru. I'll do whatever I can to help." Sakura said as she took Naru's hand in her own.

* * *

For any weirdo's that are wondering, Sakura is not lez! You would feel sorry for her too! And I sure hope you do anyway. I had a really hard time writing this chapter. Hope this doesn't ruin the story for anyone. Oh, and there will not be any Gaara for a while, but he'll come back again in the chuunin exams. Oh and sorry for skipping the whole bell test thing. I couldn't think of a way to write it without sounding like all the other stories or the manga. That part isn't very important in this story anyway. Please review and looked forward to the next chapter which I promise will be a whole lot sooner than this one was. I went through and fixed some of the typos that I missed before. If there are still some please tell me! REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! We at crazy institute love your input!


	9. Chapter 9 Sinking Farther

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

'**Demon talking'**

"**Demon thoughts"**

_§…§ _Time skip.

_Ninjutsu and hand seals_

**Chapter 9**

It was dusk by the time Kakashi and Sasuke walked into Naru's hospital room, the girl was still asleep in her bed and Sakura was starting to dose of in the chair beside her. They both had the situation explained to them by the nurse that had tended to Naru and knew that even if they did talk she wouldn't wake. Even knowing that, they still felt like it would be somewhat rude to talk right now. Sasuke walked back to the door as Kakashi quietly woke up Sakura so they could talk outside the room. Sakura's head snapped up when Kakashi prodded her. Knowing what he was implying she stood up and followed them out the door.

"We heard the physical report from the nurse, but how do you think she's going to do mentally, Sakura?" Kakashi was the first to talk. Sasuke nodded as to say he had the same question. (Wow, Sasuke is being nice? IT'S THE APOCALYPSE!)

"I'm not sure, I could give you a more accurate answer after she wakes up. She seemed pretty shaken up, and who can blame her. Though after I talked with her for a bit she was calming down quite well." Sakura explained. She had always had a knack for medical analysis. In the academy she was told that she would be better suited for medical jutsus instead of offensive jutsus. The reason she was on a team was that the great sannin Lady Tsunada had come up with the idea to have at least one medic-nin on every team. "How did the missions go?" Sakura asked, trying to sway the subject to a hopefully happier mood.

"Alright, we didn't get are quota done for the day so we'll have to work harder tomorrow. The nurses said to give Naru a couple of days before sending her on any new missions. She needs her rest." Kakashi explained. He gave a weary smile, or what you could see of his face indicated that he had a weary smile.

Sasuke hadn't said much about the subject, he wasn't close to the blond, but it wasn't like he didn't care at all that this had happened to his teammate. "Should we send a letter to Anko, I heard she was the person who raised her." Sakura automatically got hearts in her eyes over the fact that Sasuke seemed so caring Kakashi smiled and nodded.

"You heard right, I'll do that ASAP." With that their sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke and leaves. That left the two genin alone in the hallway. Sakura blushed and looked down, Sasuke pouted and looked away. However, before they could leave an angry voice yelled down the hall, making them both jump.

"God damn stupid ninja's! You'd think they could find a better way to make an exit so they could stop leaving a mess everywhere they go!" A grumpy looking doctor came stalking down the hallway and had seen the mess of leaves on the floor. "You two! Was he your sensei?" He asked angrily. They both nodded quickly not trusting their voices to work. "Then I suggest you clean up after him! NOW!" Heads were now starting to pop out of their respective doors to see what was going on. Sakura and Sasuke dropped to the floor and quickly gathered up the leaves. "Good." With that the doctor left never to be seen like that again. No, he did not die; he just had a nervous breakdown and had to retire early.

*****

Naru stirred in her bed, her eyelids felt to heave to life but the rest of her felt way better. She could feel some bandages wrapped around her arms, but there was no more pain. 'Okay, I'm alive. I can come up with that much. But the buzz of the lighting and the bed I know I'm in the hospital…' Naru's fuzzy mind tried to work out what was going on, the sedatives still hadn't worn off yet. Not that she knew she was on sedatives, all she knew was that she had been hurt somehow and was now in the hospital. 'What happened…' Almost all at once her memories flooded back, as they did she quickly and unwisely sat up in bed. "Okay, Ow that hurt." She said aloud as she flopped back down on her bed. 'Okay Naru, don't think about it. You can't be bothered by this, just don't think about it… Man I could go for some ramen right now.' A door opened and two people walked in.

"Oh, you're awake Naru!" It was Sakura. She ran over and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Hn." Was all that indicated that the second person was Sasuke.

"Ya, how long was I out for?" Naru sat up, much slower this time. There was a long pause before she got her answer.

"You were out for about a week." Sasuke answered after a while.

"A week!" Naru shouted. 'Oh crap, what happened with Gaara! His he okay?' her thoughts were running perfectly find now, only slightly manic. "Did any letters come for me while I was out?" Desperation clung to her voice. Sakura looked over at Sasuke both silently fighting with each other, which one of them would tell her.

"You got one letter, but it didn't have good news." Sasuke said without looking at Naru.

"Sorry we looked at your mail, but we didn't know when you were going to wake up. We needed to send an message to whoever it was telling them what had happened." Sakura put her hand on Naru's arm.

"It doesn't seem like good news for whoever this Gaara guy is." Sasuke said getting up from his spot against the wall. He placed a letter in Naru's hands. She didn't move more a minute; she didn't want to know what had happened. It was as if it was her fault that Gaara was in this predicament. Unfolding the letter, she used chakra to what the letter had to say. From the writing she could tell that the letter was from Temari. This did not bowed well, something had to of happened if Gaara had not written he letter himself.

_Naru,_

_ Gaara returned to the village, but things aren't good. He's been put under house arrest and I haven't seen him in much since he got back. I'm starting to worry, he never did sleep, but now he's not eating, drinking water, or anything. I don't even know if he's been out of his room since he got back. Father's not happy, they have plans for Gaara, and if they go through with it he wont be human at the end of it. _

_Temari_

If possible, Naur's heart dropped farther. She was beginning to wish that she had never left Suna. The Konoha village hated her and Gaara was miserable back in Suna. He wasn't even going to be the same if she didn't do anything, but what could she do?

* * *

I'm so so SO sorry that I haven't updated in so long! I know this chapter is short but I thought it was better than nothing! I've also posted two new stories to possibly make up for it. I'll try my best to update again sooner than this time.


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